CARNEGIE  CORPORATION  OF  NEW  YORK 


REPORT  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  ^ 

& 

THE  SECRETARY 
AS  TO 

AN  EDUCATIONAL  PROGRAM  IN  AFRICA 


PRINTED  FOR  THE  INFORMATION  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 


December  1,  1927 
NEW  YORK 


CARNEGIE  CORPORATION  OF  NEW  YORK 


REPORT  OF  THE  PRESIDENT 

THE  SECRETARY 
AS  TO 

AN  EDUCATIONAL  PROGRAM  IN  AFRICA 


NEW  YORK 
1927 


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REPORT  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  AND 
THE  SECRETARY 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/reportofpresidenOOkepp 


SUMMARY  OF  OFFICIAL  RECORD 


Summary  of  the  official  record  as  to  the  Report  of  the 
President  and  the  Secretary  as  to  an  educational  pro¬ 
gram  in  Africa: 

Resolution  X-316 

Approval  of  proposed  study  of  African  educa¬ 
tional  opportunities  for  effective  use  of  Special 
Fund. 

Resolution  B-436 

Appropriation  to  cover  cost  of  visit  to  Africa. 

Minute  recorded  October  20,  1927 

Report  submitted  to  Board  of  Trustees. 

Report  referred  to  Executive  Committee. 

Resolution  X-397 

Acceptance  of  Report,  as  policy  for  African 
program,  recommended  by  Executive  Com¬ 
mittee. 

Resolution  B-482 

Report  accepted;  five-year  program  involving 
appropriations  not  to  exceed  ^500,000  in  the 
aggregate  adopted. 

Specific  grants  to  be  recommended  to  the  Board 
of  Trustees  by  the  Executive  Committee. 


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To  THE  Trustees  of  the  Carnegie  Corporation  of  New  York: 

We  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report  upon  the  trip  to  Africa  made  by  us 
pursuant  to  Resolution  X316,  adopted  on  November  8,  1926: 

After  a  few  days  of  preliminary  conferences  in  London  we  visited,  between 
June  28  and  September  2,  1927,  Kenya,  Uganda,  Tanganyika,  Zanzibar,  Southern 
Rhodesia,  and  one  town  in  Northern  Rhodesia;  and  in  the  Union  of  South  Africa, 
the  Transvaal,  Orange  Free  State,  Natal,  and  the  eastern  and  western  provinces  of 
the  Cape.  We  had  no  opportunity  to  visit  Nigeria  and  the  other  British  possessions 
in  West  Africa,  but  judging  from  the  reports  of  the  Phelps-Stokes  Commissions 
and  other  sources  of  information,  we  believe  that  the  education  of  the  native  is 
being  carefully  studied  and  generously  supported  by  the  governments  concerned, 
and  that  the  white  population  is  too  small  to  offer  any  opportunities  to  the 
Corporation.  Nyasaland,  which  we  were  also  forced  to  omit,  offers  better  oppor¬ 
tunities,  regarding  which  full  information  is  available. 

In  all  we  visited  124  institutions,  necessarily  very  rapidly  in  most  instances, 
but  in  many  cases  making  a  careful  examination.  Disregarding  casual  contacts,  we 
have  discussed  with  439  persons  the  possible  relations  of  the  Corporation  to  Africa. 
These  include  the  Governors  of  Kenya,  Uganda,  and  Tanganyika,  the  Premier  and 
ex-Premier  (General  Smuts)  of  the  Union  of  South  Africa,  the  High  Commissioner 
from  India,  the  principals  and  faculties  and  selected  students  of  all  the  degree¬ 
granting  institutions,  the  heads  of  government  departments,  of  schools,  missions 
and  libraries,  of  research  institutions  and  museums. 

In  addition  to  94  applications  for  specific  grants  made  to  us  directly,  many  of 
them  being  for  the  erection  of  town  libraries,  we  have  had  opportunity  to  discuss 
both  with  individuals  and  with  groups  the  possibilities  of  co-ordinated  programs, 
based  upon  objectives  of  general  interest  rather  than  upon  the  needs  of  single 
institutions.  There  were  about  100  of  these  discussions. 

Our  steamer  days  were  largely  devoted  to  the  study  of  books,  pamphlets,  and 
typewritten  reports  and  memoranda  which  we  had  obtained  in  advance  of  our  visit, 
or  which  were  furnished  to  us  in  Africa.  These  have  been  classified  and  annotated 
and  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  Trustees. 

That  we  were  able  to  do  so  much  in  the  brief  time  at  our  disposal  is  due  to  the 
extraordinary  hospitality  and  courtesy  of  every  one  with  whom  we  came  into  con¬ 
tact,  and  primarily  to  the  help  of  Dr.  Charles  T.  Loram,  Commissioner  of  Native 
Affairs  of  the  Union,  who  gave  up  his  vacation  in  order  to  accompany  us  from  our 
arrival  in  Rhodesia  (July  25)  until  we  sailed  from  Capetown  (September  2)  and 
who  devoted  his  entire  time  to  making  our  trip  as  useful  as  possible.  Dr.  Loram,  a 
graduate  of  Cambridge  in  Arts  and  Law  and  of  Columbia  in  Education,  is  a  recog¬ 
nized  leader  in  British  Africa,  a  man  of  wide  experience,  unbounded  energy,  and  with 
a  host  of  devoted  friends.  We  feel  that  not  only  are  we  personally  but  the  Corpora¬ 
tion  as  a  whole  is  under  a  deep  sense  of  obligation  to  him.  Of  the  many  others  who 

7 


have  helped  us,  special  acknowledgment  is  due  to  J.  H.  Oldham  of  London,  to  the 
Acting  Governor  of  Kenya,  Sir  Edward  Denham,  to  Major  Keane  of  Uganda,  to  the 
Colonial  Secretary  of  Southern  Rhodesia,  Mr.  Leggate,  to  Mr.  Rheinallt  Jones,  Sir 
William  Thomson,  Professor  Robert  B.  Young,  Sir  Spencer  Lister,  and  Dr.  Oren- 
stein  of  Johannesburg,  Mr.  D.  McK.  Malcolm  of  Natal,  to  Chief  Magistrate  Welch 
of  the  Transkei  and  to  Sir  Carruthers  Beattie  of  Capetown. 

We  fully  realize  the  incompleteness  of  the  information  to  be  gained  in  so  rapid  a 
survey,  but  we  believe  that  we  have  obtained  a  fair  bird’s-eye  view  of  the  situation  as 
a  whole,  and  that  we  have  made  contacts,  and  we  hope  friendships,  which  will  be  of 
service  to  the  Corporation  for  many  years  to  come.  A  secondary  outcome  of  our 
trip  has  been  the  opportunity  to  discuss  with  many  keenly  interested  persons  the 
organization  and  policies  not  only  of  the  Carnegie  endowments  and  other  American 
funds,  but  of  our  educational  institutions.  A  considerable  number  of  South  African 
students  have  already  visited  the  United  States  and  many  others  are  hoping  to  do  so. 

As  a  result  of  what  we  have  heard  and  seen,  we  have  reached  the  following 
general  conclusions: 

British  Africa  offers  in  certain  fields  admirable  opportunities  to  the  Corpora¬ 
tion  to  carry  out  the  conditions  of  its  special  trust,  but  the  specific  enterprises  must 
be  chosen  with  great  care  to  avoid, 

(a)  Relieving  either  public  or  private  agencies  from  their  own  duty. 

(b)  Taking  steps  which  would  involve  us  in  current  political  controversies; 
especially  in  Kenya  and  South  Africa,  political  questions  arouse  the 
strongest  feelings. 

(c)  Entering  fields  which  could  better  be  dealt  with  by  other  non-African  agen¬ 
cies.  The  opportunities  in  public  health  work,  for  example,  particularly 
among  the  natives,  are  outstanding,  but  we  believe  it  would  be  to  the 
general  interest  to  refrain  from  dealing  directly  with  them  until  the  Rocke¬ 
feller  Foundation  has  been  given  the  fullest  opportunity  to  decide  whether 
it  should  undertake  a  comprehensive  African  program. 

(d)  Embarking  upon  a  program  involving  a  group  of  specific  grants  in  any  field 
before  a  foundation  has  been  laid  in  informed  public  opinion  and  represen¬ 
tative  group  organization.  In  scientific  research,  for  example,  such  a  founda¬ 
tion  has  been  laid,  and  there  is  now  in  existence  a  Research  Grant  Board 
both  competent  and  willing  to  work  with  the  Corporation.  For  native 
affairs,  similarly,  there  is  available  an  Advisory  Board  on  Bantu  Studies  and 
Research.  Both  of  these  bodies  have  been  officially  set  up  by  the  Govern¬ 
ment  of  the  Union  of  South  Africa  in  recognition  of  public  interest.  In 
each  case  the  members  would  act  informally  for  the  purpose  of  advising  the 
Corporation.  For  the  moment  it  would  probably  be  wise  to  limit  their 
activities  to  the  Union,  but  after  the  findings  of  the  recently  appointed 

8 


Royal  Commission  to  East  Africa  have  become  available,  it  is  hoped  that 
by  appropriate  augmentation  of  their  members  in  each  case,  the  two 
groups  may  be  in  a  position  to  act  in  an  advisory  capacity  for  all  of  British 
Africa.  On  the  other  hand,  though  there  is  a  crying  need  for  books,  both 
for  scholarly  and  general  use,  and  for  scientific  journals,  for  the  Corporation 
to  make  specific  library  grants  at  this  time  would  be  to  build  upon  the 
sand,  for  there  is  no  organization  of  librarians,  no  general  spirit  of  co¬ 
operation  in  using  the  resources  now  at  hand,  and  in  general  no  realization 
of  what  modern  library  service  means. 

Turning  now  from  negative  considerations  to  positive,  the  following  factors 
seem  to  us  of  particular  significance: 

(a)  In  new  communities  where  there  is  so  much  to  be  done  on  every  hand  and 
where  steps  to  supply  immediate  needs  would  be  enthusiastically  welcomed, 
it  is  particularly  important  to  concentrate  upon  fundamentals,  or  in  other 
words  to  take  the  long  view. 

(b)  It  is  also  important,  even  more  so  than  in  the  United  States,  to  group  the 
enterprises  with  which  the  Corporation  concerns  itself,  so  that  instead  of 
scattered  results,  there  may  be  a  cumulative  effect,  even  if  within  relatively 
narrow  limits. 

(c)  The  specific  elements  which  single  out  British  Africa  from  other  parts  of  the 
world  must  be  borne  in  mind:  its  remoteness  from  other  centres  of  culture, 
its  small  and  widely  scattered  European  population;  a  present  lack  of 
sympathy  and  understanding  in  certain  important  matters  as  between  East 
Africa  and  South  Africa,  and  between  the  English  and  Dutch  elements  in  the 
latter ;  the  conflict  of  races,  not  only  as  between  black  and  white  but  with  the 
Indian  and  colored  (half-caste)  elements  further  complicating  the  situa¬ 
tion.  It  is  still  uncertain  whether  the  dominant  culture  of  the  future  will 
be  white  or  black,  or  whether  a  balance  between  white  and  black  can 
be  effected. 

The  basis  of  the  economic  life  must  also  be  considered:  gold  and 
diamonds  have  reached  and  perhaps  passed  their  maximum;  other  mineral 
resources  are  undeveloped;  advance  in  tropical  agriculture  depends  in  large 
measure  upon  the  solution  of  problems  demanding  intensive  scientific  re¬ 
search,  and  depends  even  more  upon  a  better  understanding  of  the  native 
as  the  most  important  “natural  resource”  of  the  entire  region.  The  ex¬ 
isting  sources  of  support  for  enterprises  falling  within  the  scope  of  the 
Corporation  are  in  many  respects  peculiar  to  the  region.  Government,  for 
example,  assists  private  educational  institutions  in  many  ways,  notably 
by  providing  loans  for  the  construction  of  buildings,  and  by  meeting  the 
salaries  of  teachers  at  missions,  etc.  On  the  other  hand,  although  a  few 

9 


notable  examples  have  been  set,  there  is  no  stream  of  individual  gifts, 
even  from  the  alumni  of  the  institutions  concerned.  Where  philanthropy 
touches  financial  profit,  however,  as  in  the  case  of  the  treatment  of  the 
natives  in  the  mines,  organized  business  has  been  both  far-seeing  and 
generous  in  its  contributions. 

Nowhere  else  in  the  territory  open  to  us  do  Christian  missions  play  so 
important  a  part  in  education.  Not  only  is  the  education  of  the  natives 
almost  wholly  in  their  hands,  but  to  a  certain  degree  that  of  whites  as 
well.  Their  role  is  officially  recognized  by  Government,  which  pays  the 
salaries  of  teachers  and  contributes  in  other  ways.  The  missionaries  bring 
to  their  educational  task  extraordinary  devotion  and  sympathy,  but 
from  the  nature  of  the  case^ — education  still  being  for  them,  though  to  a 
lessening  degree,  a  means  to  an  end,  namely,  the  spread  of  the  Gospel — 
their  professional  qualifications  are  not  always  of  the  first  order.  With 
government  support  has  come  government  supervision,  or  rather  over¬ 
sight,  but  here  again  what  impresses  the  visitor  is  in  general  the  devotion 
and  character  of  the  agents  rather  than  their  familiarity  with  the  most 
recent  educational  thought  and  practice. 

The  visits  and  reports  of  the  Phelps-Stokes  Commission  have  had  a  profound 
infiuence  throughout  Africa,  particularly  toward  the  realization  of  the  value  of 
practical  instruction.  In  general  the  attitude  of  Government  toward  native  educa¬ 
tion  is  now  enlightened  and  though  public  opinion  among  the  whites  still  lags  be¬ 
hind,  the  situation  here  is  rapidly  improving  and  there  is  no  longer  the  unbroken 
hostility  toward  any  step  to  “educate  the  nigger  out  of  his  usefulness.”  Altogether 
the  time  seerns  most  favorable  for  constructive  educational  work  among  natives  and 
other  non-Europeans. 

For  the  higher  education  of  whites  and  for  research  there  are  if  anything  too 
many  institutions  in  South  Africa;  the  supply  of  able  and  adequately  trained  men 
and  women  is,  we  believe,  adequate,  and  they  are  reasonably  well  supplied  with 
mechanical  equipment.  They  are,  however,  ill-supplied  with  books  and  journals, 
and  they  lack  the  funds  for  field  work  and  for  contact  with  one  another.  In  some 
fields  there  are  facilities  for  publication,  in  others  these  are  lacking. 

The  larger  towns  have  excellent  “technical  colleges”  on  the  level  of  our 
mechanics  institutes,  which  in  addition  to  their  full-time  classes  also  do  work  in 
adult  education;  otherwise  the  opportunities  in  this  field  are  almost  untouched. 
The  museums,  even  in  the  smaller  towns,  are  admirable,  but  there  are  only  two 
art  collections  worthy  of  note. 

The  most  unsatisfactory  field  of  cultural  activity  is  the  library.  In  the  entire 
region  there  are  only  five  respectable  collections — one  under  government,  three 
under  town  and  one  under  university  direction.  The  town  libraries  almost  without 
exception  cling  to  the  obsolete  subscription  type  of  organization,  and  are  public 

10 


only  in  name.  As  we  have  already  stated,  there  is  no  professional  organization  of 
librarians,  no  provision  for  their  training,  no  “library  movement.” 

Having  in  mind  the  various  considerations  thus  briefly  set  forth,  we  venture  to 
present  for  the  consideration  of  the  Board  the  following  specific  projects: 

1.  Scientific  Research 

(a)  A  five-year  program  of  co-operation  with  the  Government  Research  Grant 
Board  acting  informally  as  indicated  above.  This  would  involve  an  annual  grant 
of  £2000  for  the  period,  to  be  allotted  by  the  Council  in  support  of  specific  researches. 
The  Corporation  should  refer  to  this  Board  the  various  projects  which  have  been 
submitted  to  it,  with  such  comments  as  may  be  made  thereon  by  the  Carnegie 
Institution  and  the  National  Research  Council,  but  the  local  Council  should  be  free 
in  its  discretion  to  go  outside  these  enterprises  in  making  its  allotments.  We  have 
met  practically  all  the  present  members  of  this  Council  and  have  familiarized  our¬ 
selves  with  its  procedure  in  making  government  grants,  and  we  believe  that  its 
collaboration  in  this  field  would  be  invaluable  to  the  Corporation. 

We  recommend  also  a  supplementary  annual  grant  of  £750  to  enable  the  Council 
to  grant  travelling  allowances  to  men  or  women  of  proved  capacity.  The  purpose 
of  these  grants  is  not  to  enable  young  scholars  to  complete  their  formal  training 
(indeed,  it  should  be  stipulated  that  no  work  leading  to  a  degree  should  be  under¬ 
taken)  but  rather  to  offer  an  incentive  and  stimulus  at  the  point  where  these  are  often 
the  most  needed,  i.  e.,  when  the  ordinary  fellowships  are  no  longer  available  and 
before  the  professorship,  with  its  sabbatical  privileges,  or  the  directorship  is  reached. 
For  American  scholars  the  Guggenheim  Fellowships  meet  the  need  we  have  in  mind. 

(b)  A  Co-operative  Research 

No  research  of  this  character  has  been  undertaken  in  Africa,  though  there  is 
keen  interest  in  what  has  recently  been  taking  place  in  the  United  States.  There  are 
outstanding  opportunities  for  such  studies  upon  questions  touching  the  natives,  and 
also  in  South  African  agriculture,  but  it  has  seemed  to  us  that  the  most  immediately 
useful  and  the  most  stimulating  would  be  a  study  of  what  are  known  as  the  “poor 
whites”  of  South  Africa.  There  are  now  more  than  120,000  of  the  small  total  of 
Europeans  who  have  sunk  below  the  economic  level  of  the  more  advanced  natives  and 
who  present  a  problem  of  the  utmost  gravity,  which  neither  sociology,  nor  economics, 
nor  public  health,  nor  psychology  and  education  can  deal  with  alone.  Valuable  results 
might  be  obtained,  however,  if  it  were  made  possible  for  them  to  work  together. 

Competent  men  in  all  these  fields  are  available  in  the  universities,  although  it 
might  prove  desirable  to  call  in  from  the  outside  an  organizing  secretary  (not  a 
director)  familiar  with  enterprises  of  this  character.  To  avoid  possible  complications, 
an  invitation  to  the  Corporation  from  some  non-political  body  to  support  the  study  is 
essential,  and  we  have  had  intimations  that  such  an  invitation  would  be  forthcoming 

11 


from  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  the  best  possible  agency;  for  most  of  the  poor 
whites  are  of  Dutch  stock,  and  practically  all  are  Dutch  (or  rather  Afrikaans)  speak¬ 
ing  and  under  the  wing  of  this  Church,  which  is  now  expending  considerable  sums 
for  poor-relief  among  them. 

If  the  Corporation  is  favorably  disposed  toward  this  project,  the  Research  Grant 
Council  should  be  asked  to  pass  upon  its  importance  and  timeliness  and  to  approve 
the  personnel,  but  thereafter  the  enterprise  should  be  so  carried  on  as  to  redound 
to  the  credit  of  the  Church.  It  is  estimated  that  the  contribution  of  the  Corporation 
for  the  purposes  should  be  £4000,  payable  £2000  annually. 


2.  Library  Service 

Of  the  few  well-trained  librarians  in  South  Africa,  there  are  perhaps  half  a  dozen 
who  realize  that  even  with  present  resources  the  service  of  books  could  be  greatly 
improved  through  co-operation  and  through  the  application  of  ideas  already  in 
successful  operation  elsewhere.  Without  help  from  outside,  these  men  are  helpless 
to  better  existing  conditions.  A  few  influential  laymen  are  sympathetic,  but  in 
general  they  are  prophets  without  honor  in  their  own  country.  After  extended 
discussion,  both  with  librarians  and  with  leaders  in  other  fields,  we  propose  as  a  first 
step  toward  laying  a  foundation  upon  which  future  action  must  be  based  if  it  is  to 
prove  profitable,  that  the  Corporation  provide  the  funds  to  enable  a  representative 
group  of  South  Africans  to  invite  two  librarians  of  international  reputation  to  spend 
several  months  there.  One  should  be  English  or  Scotch,  and  one  Canadian  or 
American;  one  should  be  in  a  position  to  speak  with  authority  upon  public  libraries 
and  their  administration,  and  one  primarily  a  bibliographer,  preferably  a  university 
librarian.  Above  all  they  must  be  men  of  sympathy  and  tact,  who  would  make  no 
effort  to  dominate  the  situation  but  would  for  the  time  being  join  the  local  group 
for  an  exchange  of  experiences  and  ideas.  Their  visit  would  arouse  wide-spread 
public  interest  in  the  library  as  an  instrument  of  culture,  and  it  could  be  made  the 
occasion  of  conferences  not  only  of  librarians,  but  of  teachers  and  investigators,  of 
government  officials,  etc.  Out  of  these  conferences  might  be  expected  to  come  some 
form  of  library  association  and  some  scheme  for  the  training  of  librarians,  and  the 
formulation  of  library  law,  and,  finally,  a  report  on  existing  conditions  and  needs 
(to  be  signed  not  by  the  visitors  alone  but  by  the  group  as  a  whole).  Such  a  report 
would  not  only  guide  the  Corporation  as  to  its  own  action  for  the  future,  but  it 
would,  it  is  hoped,  have  far-reaching  influence  in  South  Africa  itself.  If  the  Cor¬ 
poration  approves  this  scheme  in  principle,  it  should  provide  not  only  for  the 
honoraria  and  expenses  of  the  visitors  but  should  place  at  their  disposal  funds 
sufficient  to  pay  the  travelling  expenses  of  those  called  into  conference  (not  a  small 
item  in  South  Africa).  It  would  be  most  desirable  also  if  a  limited  sum  were  set 
aside  to  make  immediately  possible  certain  steps  which  have  seemed  to  us  obviously 
needed,  but  which  would  be  doubly  useful  if  they  could  appear  to  come  as  the  first- 

12 


fruits  of  the  proposed  conferences.  We  have  in  mind,  for  example,  small  collections 
for  the  isolated  mission  stations,  supplemented  by  a  circulation  of  boxes  of  books; 
simple  libraries  for  the  centres  of  educated  natives  and  other  non-Europeans,  as, 
for  example,  at  the  native  Parliament  at  Umtata;  a  supply  of  books  for  the  South 
African  Training  Ship  and  for  circulation  among  its  graduates  at  sea ;  a  model  school 
library;  and  possibly  a  grant  to  fill  the  most  glaring  deficiencies  in  the  libraries 
of  the  university  colleges  and  technical  colleges.  In  all,  the  plans  proposed  would 
call  for  about  £4500. 


3.  Native  Education  and  Culture 

Here  as  in  the  case  of  scientific  research  there  already  exists  a  representative 
body  with  which  the  Corporation  may  work,  namely,  the  Union  Government 
Advisory  Board  on  Bantu  Studies  and  Research,  which,  as  we  have  indicated,  might 
in  due  course  be  augmented  to  deal  with  projects  outside  the  Union. 

In  recommending  our  program  we  have  in  mind  the  fact  that,  outside  the 
Union,  co-operation  with  the  Government  in  advancing  native  education  seems  the 
most  practicable,  almost  the  only  practicable  field  open  to  the  Corporation  at 
present.  There  are  so  many  different  missions  that  our  energies  would  be  scattered 
if  we  endeavored  to  deal  directly  with  them,  but  Jeanes  Schools  in  their  territories 
would  help  them  all,  as  would  also  the  researches  proposed.  As  for  the  white  popu¬ 
lation,  there  are  no  degree-granting  institutions  with  which  to  work,  and  help  for  the 
few  existing  public  libraries  should  in  our  judgment  await  the  development  of 
leadership  in  the  Union. 

(a)  Additional  Support  of  Jeanes  Schools 

Without  question  the  most  important  single  step  in  the  advancement  of  the  Afri¬ 
can  native  has  been  the  adaptation,  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Thomas  Jesse  Jones 
and  Dr.  J.  H.  Dillard  of  the  Phelps-Stokes  Commission,  of  the  principle  of  supervision 
for  rural  education  which  has  been  so  successful  in  our  own  negro  schools.  We  are 
already  co-operating  with  the  Colonial  Government  in  carrying  on  a  Jeanes  School 
for  the  training  of  native  supervisors  in  Kenya;  and  similar  help  in  Uganda,  in 
Northern  and  Southern  Rhodesia,  Nyasaland,  and  in  one  or  two  points  in  the 
Union  would  be  most  welcome  to  the  Governments  concerned,  which  stand  ready 
to  provide  buildings  and  to  make  contributions  in  money  at  least  equal  to  the 
Corporation  grant.  This  plan  if  carried  out  would  cost  £5000  annually  for  four 
years. 

{b)  Educational  Research 

In  our  visits  to  native  schools  we  were  depressed  by  the  poor  quality  of  the 
material  used  for  instructing  the  pupils  in  their  own  vernacular.  For  example,  the 

13 


illustrated  reading  charts  have  in  general  been  prepared,  from  scanty  funds,  by 
missionaries  with  little  knowledge  of  educational  psychology,  and  even  less  of  artistic 
presentation;  nowhere  are  native  designs  used,  though  many  of  these  are  very 
beautiful.  Our  suggestion  of  a  demonstration  of  what  might  be  done,  using  some 
widely  used  native  tongue  like  Swahili,  was  eagerly  welcomed.  This  would  in¬ 
volve  the  collaboration  of  local  teachers  who  understand  the  language  and  the  life  of 
the  native  with  two  outsiders,  one  an  educational  psychologist  and  the  other  an 
artist.  Before  the  charts  were  printed,  considerable  experimental  work  with  the 
children  would  be  necessary.  When  it  is  remembered  that  the  native  who  goes  to 
school  at  all  receives  on  the  average  only  two  or  three  years’  training,  and  that  his 
teacher  has  not  had  much  more,  the  importance  of  the  very  best  teaching  material 
is  manifest.  After  a  demonstration  has  been  made  for  one  language,  which  it  is 
estimated  would  cost  £3000,  the  extension  for  the  other  languages  of  the  Bantu 
peoples  would  be  relatively  simple  and  inexpensive. 

Mental  Tests 

At  present  the  selection  of  the  handful  of  natives  for  whom  there  are  places  in 
the  higher  schools  or  in  government  employ  depends  wholly  on  missionary  recom¬ 
mendation  or  on  the  good  opinion  of  some  native  commissioner  or  other  official. 
The  problem  has  never  been  attacked  by  the  technique  of  mental  measurement. 
It  is  believed  that  a  set  of  simple  tests  suitable  to  the  Bantu  mentality,  and  in  one 
of  the  more  widely  distributed  tribal  languages,  would  before  long  demonstrate  that 
a  much  more  satisfactory  method  of  selection  is  possible.  This  is  a  wholly  new 
idea  to  almost  every  one  with  whom  we  spoke,  and  the  place  of  the  experiment 
should  depend  on  the  assurance  of  intelligent  and  sympathetic  local  collaboration- 
It  is  estimated  that  the  initial  demonstration  would  cost  £1500. 

(c)  Other  Grants 

In  addition,  a  grant  of  £2500  is  recommended  to  support  a  Government  Vaca¬ 
tion  School  in  the  Union,  also  a  grant  of  £3750  to  be  distributed  under  the  direction 
of  the  Associated  Joint  Councils,  composed  of  representative  Europeans  and  natives, 
which  perform  in  South  Africa  the  same  functions  as  the  Commission  on  Interracial 
Co-operation  does  in  the  United  States. 


4.  Other  Non-Europeans 

The  colored  people  of  the  Cape,  originally  composed  of  Bushman,  Bantu,  Malay 
and  White  elements,  now  forma  large  (600,000)  and  relatively  stable  group.  While 
many  possess  considerable  natural  intelligence  and  skill,  their  economic  position  is 
dangerously  low,  and  their  opportunities  for  education  are  very  poor.  The  Technical 
College  at  Capetown  is  an  excellent  institution,  under  enlightened  direction,  and  a 

14 


grant  to  it  of  £1750  in  the  interest  of  technical  training  for  colored  students  would 
be  welcomed,  and  would  be  wisely  used. 

The  Indian  population,  which  in  the  Union  is  concentrated  in  Natal,  presents 
many  difficulties.  While  the  individual  native  is  as  a  rule  liked  by  his  white  neigh¬ 
bors,  the  Indian  is  detested  and  there  is  little  or  no  desire  among  the  Europeans  to 
improve  his  condition.  It  is  nevertheless  quite  as  much  to  their  interest  as  to  the 
Indian’s  that  his  earning  and  consequently  his  purchasing  power  be  raised.  The 
Government  of  India  has  sent  a  very  distinguished  Brahmin,  Mr.  Srinivasa  Sastri, 
as  High  Commissioner  to  the  Union,  and  we  had  the  opportunity  of  discussing  the 
situation  with  him.  Mr.  Sastri  has  raised  among  the  more  wealthy  Indian  mer¬ 
chants  a  considerable  sum  for  the  establishment  of  a  technical  college  for  his  people 
at  Durban,  but  additional  funds  are  needed.  There  is  already  a  well-equipped 
technical  college  for  whites  in  the  city,  and  in  our  judgment  a  school  for  Indians, 
if  established,  should  be  affiliated  with  it.  In  the  present  state  of  public  opinion 
instruction  would  have  to  be  given  separately,  but  there  would  be  manifest  econo¬ 
mies  and  other  advantages  in  some  form  of  educational  union.  It  should  be  said 
that  neither  Mr.  Sastri  nor  the  Technical  College  authorities  will  take  the  initiative 
to  bring  this  about,  but  a  grant  of  £3000  from  the  Corporation,  conditional  upon 
some  such  plan  as  now  obtains  for  colored  technical  students  at  Capetown,  might 
settle  the  question. 


5.  Art  and  Archeology 

South  Africa  has  a  good  tradition  in  music,  but  has  made  relatively  little 
progress  in  the  pictorial  arts.  Thanks  to  the  generosity  of  a  few  individuals,  how¬ 
ever,  it  has  the  beginnings  of  two  important  public  art  collections,  which  will  be 
better  appreciated  when  art  education  is  further  advanced.  There  are  three 
promising  university  art  departments — at  Johannesburg,  Durban,  and  Capetown. 
At  each  the  personnel  is  far  better  than  the  equipment,  and  three  of  the  art  teaching 
collections  already  distributed  to  American  and  Canadian  Colleges,  each  costing 
about  £1000,  would  be  a  godsend. 

In  the  related  field  of  archaeology  a  grant  of  £1500  to  permit  the  publication 
of  two  remarkable  collections  of  copies  of  the  Bushman  cave  paintings  and  to  record 
some  of  the  more  recent  discoveries  in  Rhodesia  would  give  particular  pleasure  in 
South  Africa  and  would,  we  believe,  be  justified  by  the  inherent  importance  of  the 
material.  Later  on  the  Corporation  might  aid  in  the  study  of  Bantu  music  and 
design,  both  of  which  offer  opportunities  of  unusual  interest,  but  a  decision  on  this 
point  should  await  the  development  of  the  program  of  the  International  Institute 
of  African  Languages  and  Cultures,  which  is  largely  financed  by  the  Laura  Spelman 
Rockefeller  Foundation. 


15 


6.  Adult  Education 

Sporadic  attempts  have  been  made  to  develop  adult  education  in  South  Africa, 
but  without  success  except  as  regards  the  part-time  courses  of  the  technical  col¬ 
leges  at  Johannesburg,  Durban,  and  Capetown.  This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  in 
view  of  the  existing  difficulties.  Thanks  to  his  climate,  the  South  African  is  an  out¬ 
door  person  rather  than  a  reader;  he  has  available  no  service  of  books  in  the  modern 
sense,  and  the  universities  and  colleges  are  still  concentrated  upon  developing  their 
intramural  work.  For  the  present  the  most  practical  help  which  the  Corporation 
could  give  would  be  to  enable  one  of  the  cities,  preferably  Durban,  where  the  best 
foundation  has  been  laid,  to  employ  for  a  year  or  two  a  first-rate  tutorial  lecturer 
and  organizer  of  the  type  which  the  Worker’s  Education  Association  has  developed 
in  England.  This  would  cost  £850.  For  the  natives  the  first  step  would  seem  to 
be  the  provision  of  books  for  such  centres  as  the  Bantu  Men’s  Association  at 
Johannesburg. 


7.  Visits  to  and  from  Africa 

The  criticism  is  frequently  made,  and  we  believe  it  to  be  valid,  that  in  Africa 
education  and  culture  generally  suffer  from  too  slavish  an  imitation  of  British 
institutions  and  practices,  whereas  the  actual  conditions  of  life  are  much  more 
similar  in  Canada  and  the  United  States,  and  suggestions  as  to  how  African  prob¬ 
lems  can  most  effectively  be  solved  are  in  many  instances  more  likely  to  be  found 
in  these  countries.  Thanks  to  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund,  the  contact  with  the  United 
States  in  the  interest  of  negro  education  has  already  been  made  and  is  being  main¬ 
tained  by  an  interchange  of  visits.  With  the  exception  of  agricultural  education, 
however,  and  to  a  less  degree  engineering,  there  is  no  corresponding  “bridge”  in 
the  educational  and  cultural  interests  of  the  whites.  If  the  Corporation  were  to 
make  possible  a  limited  number  of  visits  both  to  and  from  Africa,  the  step  would  be 
greeted  with  enthusiasm,  and  the  recent  experiment  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation 
in  Australia  and  New  Zealand  to  meet  very  similar  conditions  has,  we  believe, 
demonstrated  its  practical  usefulness.  For  a  three-year  period  this  would  cost 
approximately  £18,000.  From  Africa  should  come  leaders  to  study  our  technical 
and  commercial  schools,  our  public  school  systems,  museums  and  parks,  our  libra¬ 
ries,  extension  work,  community  welfare,  etc.  To  Africa  should  go  the  librarians 
and  the  adult  education  organizer  already  mentioned,  a  town  planner,  a  home 
economics  expert,  etc. 

The  separate  university  colleges,  loosely  grouped  together  in  the  University  of 
South  Africa,  have  many  excellent  qualities,  but  both  faculty  and  students  suffer 
from  their  isolated  position.  If  for  a  five-year  period  a  first-r  ate  college  teacher 
from  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  incidentally  familiar  with  academic  administration, 
should  each  year  divide  his  time  among  these  institutions,  the  effect  would  be  most 
stimulating.  This  would  cost  about  £7500. 


16 


8.  Possible  Additional  Grants 

Among  the  many  other  suggestions  which  we  have  received  are  two  which  we 
regard  as  relatively  less  desirable  than  those  already  mentioned,  but  which  it  might 
prove  wise  to  include  for  the  purpose  of  balancing  the  program. 

In  view  of  the  unsettled  state  of  educational  affairs  in  Kenya  (the  Director  of 
Education  is  about  to  be  changed)  it  has  not  seemed  wise  at  present  to  suggest 
further  steps  in  this  field  there,  and  as  a  consequence  our  program  in  that  important 
colony  is  relatively  light.  The  wife  of  the  Governor,  Lady  Grigg,  has  by  valiant 
efforts  established  a  maternity  centre  in  the  native  compound  near  Nairobi,  and  has 
appealed  to  the  Corporation  for  help.  It  might  be  wise  to  offer  a  grant  of  £1000 
in  the  interest  of  health  education  in  connection  with  this  centre. 

Finally,  the  admirable  Government  Health  Service  of  Uganda  (where  our 
program  is  also  relatively  light)  is  very  anxious  to  try  out  the  usefulness  of  one  of  the 
motor  dispensaries  which  proved  so  useful  in  France  during  the  War.  While  we 
have  deliberately  refrained  from  suggesting  purely  medical  projects,  lest  our  pro¬ 
gram  might  interfere  with  that  which  we  hope  the  Rockefeller  Foundation  may 
decide  to  undertake,  the  indirect  value  of  this  mobile  dispensary  in  the  health 
education  which  forms  so  essential  a  part  of  the  Jeanes  idea  might  justify  an 
exception  in  this  case;  the  cost  would  be  £1200. 


Conclusion 

The  program  which  we  have  outlined  would  commit  the  Corporation  to  an 
expenditure  during  the  fiscal  year  1927-28  of  from  £37,600  to  £39,800,  depending 
upon  whether  the  last  two  items  are  included,  and  of  £51,000,  spread  over  the 
ensuing  four  years.  To  this  latter  figure  should  be  added  a  sum  which  may  be 
roughly  estimated  at  £20,000,  which  we  believe  could  profitably  be  devoted  to 
library  service  as  a  result  of  the  special  study  and  report  which  we  have  proposed. 

The  total,  £110,800,  or  almost  exactly  one  year’s  income  from  the  Special 
Fund,  though  substantial, -does  not  seem  to  us  unduly  high,  taking  into  considera¬ 
tion  the  fact  that  hitherto  the  Corporation  has  done  so  little  in  this  region;  the 
character  of  the  opportunities  offered;  and  the  funds  now  available  in  the  Special 
Fund,  applicable  in  Canada  and  the  British  Colonies,  which  on  October  1,  1927, 
had  a  credit  balance  of  31,274,340.02. 

The  Corporation  might  indeed  feel  justified  in  looking  forward  to  supplementing 
these  obligations  to  a  limited  degree  toward  the  end  of  the  five-year  period  in  aid 
of  projects  which  have  already  been  submitted  or  which  will  certainly  come  to  our 
attention  as  a  result  of  the  contacts  which  have  now  been  established. 

British  Africa  is  practically  without  experience  with  American  endowments; 
our  visit  has  created  unprecedented  interest;  and  if  the  Board  finds  itself  in  general 
sympathy  with  our  proposals,  we  believe  there  are  definite  advantages  in  making 

17 


known  as  promptly  as  possible  the  general  fields  in  which  the  Corporation  is  pre¬ 
pared  to  co-operate;  its  desire  to  be  guided  in  its  action  by  the  most  informed 
local  opinion;  its  willingness  to  embark  upon  a  five-year  program;  and  it  should  be 
made  clear  that  grants  made  under  this  program  shall  create  no  obligation  ex¬ 
pressed  or  implied  as  to  the  future. 

It  should  further  be  made  clear  that  after  the  five-year  period  our  obligations 
in  other  parts  of  the  British  Empire  are  likely  to  preclude  for  a  considerable  period 
the  consideration  by  the  Corporation  of  additional  African  projects,  even  such  as 
may  on  their  merits  be  of  the  most  desirable  character. 

Respectfully  submitted 

Frederick  P.  Keppel,  President 
James  Bertram,  Secretary 

October  20,  1927 


18 


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